jc719

I didn't try connecting HDMI prior to TV boot up.  The TV button/joystick did nothing; it appeared to be disabled, but I only tried it briefly. 

I know that on our 11/2019 I was able to connect to the TV wirelessly using a Chromecast connection (from my Android phone) and it was a terrific feature.  I could initiate the connection from both the TV and the phone, but it was easier from the TV.  I don't remember where it was on the TV UI, but it was easy to find and not hidden at all.  There was a pairing code that needed to be entered into the phone.  Starting from the phone side, the TV was a device visible when tapping the cast icon in supported apps.  Now, all of that was gone.  

We're on Solstice this summer so I'll try your process there.  I'll also bring along a real Samsung remote with more functions than are available with the ship remote.  

Two years ago (Nov 2019), in the "before" time, we were on the first Edge TATL from Rome to FLL.  One of the features we had was the ability to stream (cast) from our phone to the stateroom TV using wifi.  It appeared to use Chromecast and the connection could be initiated either from the TV or phone.  I used this for content already downloaded to my phone, not streamed directly from Netflix etc.  I didn't need to be connected to the Internet, just ship wifi.  It worked well, but not perfectly and would occasionally require restarting the connection.  I don't recall what the hardware in the room was, but I think it might have been an Apple TV connected to the TV via HDMI.  I could be mistaken about that, however.

Fast forward to Dec 2021.  Back on the Edge for a 7-day RT out of FLL. No capability to connect the phone to TV at all.  Searched all the TV menus and also from the phone side.  Nada.  The TV was only connected to hardwire ethernet.  No (visible) STB or any HDMI connections in use.  I tried connecting the phone directly with USB-to-HDMI but neither the TV nor phone saw anything and there was no way with the ship-supplied remote to change the source (which would have probably worked).  I started with the iLounge staff, who were clueless.  I asked cust service and they, too, had no clue.  They referred me to the suite retreat host.  He poked around and couldn't find anything.  He called a couple people and finally found someone who said that feature was removed during the standdown in 2020.  I think most of the on-board staff was not around in 2019, so had no idea what I was talking about.  

It was nice to be able to watch our own content after we were done for the day on the TV, rather than my phone.

Does anyone know why they removed this or if it was fleet-wide?  Or found a way around it?  One reason I can think of is that it wasn't widely used and caused too many tech support calls for the staff. Or maybe wasn't reliable enough, generating complaints.  I didn't use it a lot but missed it not being there esp since it was there in 2019. 

28 minutes ago, jc719 said:

I missed the invite for the Exotics webinar but got a CC newsletter today with a sign-up link to watch it before Apr 4.  I completed the registration and followed the link to watch it.  But when I go there, I get the screen where the webinar would be displayed (with a patterned grey background), but nothing plays.  I have been able to view previous webinars, but watched (suffered?) those in real time.  Anyone else having a similar problem or suggested solution?  Thanks.

Never mind. Local problem with my router.  Fixed.  All's well.  

I missed the invite for the Exotics webinar but got a CC newsletter today with a sign-up link to watch it before Apr 4.  I completed the registration and followed the link to watch it.  But when I go there, I get the screen where the webinar would be displayed (with a patterned grey background), but nothing plays.  I have been able to view previous webinars, but watched (suffered?) those in real time.  Anyone else having a similar problem or suggested solution?  Thanks.

As others have said, the match is from Celebrity Captain's Club status to mLife status.  BCC is irrelevant.  You call the mLife number posted above.  I did this without ever wagering $1 in a Celebrity casino.  The mLife phone rep put me on hold for a few minutes and called Celebrity to verify status.  (This was in pre-Covid days when phone reps were less busy.)  I matched Celebrity Elite to mLife Gold. 

The next possible step (not discussed above) is to match from your new mLife status to Hyatt.  My MGM Gold matched to Hyatt Explorist.  The MGM to Hyatt match is all done online.

If a big box TA still receives their commission for a paid-in-full booking if the cruise line cancels the cruise, and the booking included a big box store gift card after the cruise (vs an OBC), should the pax still receive that after the cruise line cancels & the pax receives a full refund for the cruise?  The TA was supplying the GC out of their commission that they still received.  Any difference for a FCC instead of a cash refund?  Just asking for a friend....

17 hours ago, Wine-O said:

 

Call UA.  They charged me $125 to restore 40K miles back into my account.  They recently changed their policy.  I got a voucher for the $125 good for 2 years, and my wife got her $125 restored to the credit card.  🍷

Thanks.  I contacted UA Mileage Plus service center by online messaging and they issued vouchers within an hour.  Good until 4/2022.  Aside from my one status query to celebrity, I was able to completely avoid any human telephone interactions through this entire process.

I was fully refunded on a celebrity-initiated cancellation.  It was a booked after final payment date so paid in full.  I got cruise + taxes + celebrity air.  We didn't have any other pre-paid shore ex, dining, etc.  No FCC.  I opened a dispute with Chase online and got an immediate temporary credit (I had not yet paid the bill where the original charge was due).  A few weeks later, the Celebrity credit was issued and the dispute closed.  The only telephone interaction through the whole process was a status inquiry to Celebrity ("in process").  2 days later the credit posted.

Yes, I received a refund.  I described my timeline in post #109 in the Tracker thread.

My experience & timeline...

Infinity FLL-BCN TATL Apr 25.  Booked & paid in full 2/14 thru big-box (C****o) online TA.  Charged to my Chase Sapphire card.  It appeared on my statement 3/9 and payment due 4/6.  Bought outbound air thru Celebrity on 2/16.  

Celebrity cancelled on 3/24, offering 125% FCC or 100% refund.  I completed TA's online refund request form on 3/24, selecting the refund.  I received email response from TA indicating that the cancel was processed and I would receive a full refund (of the expected amount).

On 3/26, I disputed the cruise and air charges with Chase.  Submitted online (no call required), selecting the option "I canceled a one-time purchase and haven't received a credit."  On 3/27, temporary credits were posted and they were deducted from my 4/6 balance. 

On 3/30, I called TA and she called Celebrity while I waited and indicated that it would be processed by Celebrity within 15 days (4/15).

On 4/10, I noticed that the air reservations disappeared from my planner and from the airline.  I called Celebrity to check status.  She said the cancel request was made on 4/3 and was in process, due by 5/2.  (Not sure what happened between my cancel date 3/24 and Celebrity's 4/3.)

On 4/12, I received a message from Chase that the credit had been issued in my expected amount (cruise + taxes + air) and the dispute closed.  So everything's settled and all's as well as can be expected.  I have no idea whether my 4/10 call accelerated my credit posting 2 days later.

The only costs I'm out were for return air that was booked with UA points and cost $75/person to restore, and my TA's TravelGuard policy premium that I got back as a voucher good for 2 years.

The cruise still remains on my Celebrity planner (without the air).

Here's a situation that I haven't seen discussed (but I may have missed it)....

DW & I have a cruise scheduled for next month (April).  The cruise line has announced a change to their T&C's that we can now cancel up to 48 hours before departure and receive a 100% future cruise credit, certainly a positive change for many passengers.  The reservation was booked and paid in full in February.  We have 3rd party (not cruise line) travel insurance without CFAR.  DW's physician has now said that she should not travel on a cruise ship, in particular on our April trip, due to a pre-existing condition (TI was purchased the same day as the trip so there should be a pre-ex cond waiver).  MD will provide certification of the condition.  This would seem to qualify as a named peril trip cancellation claim, which would provide a cash payment.  Cash is better than a FCC.  So, the question is, can we cancel without the FCC and stick with the original cruise line cancellation schedule where we would get a partial cash refund (25%) and make a claim for the forfeited penalty (75%)?  Or would the failure to accept a 100% FCC be failing to mitigate damages?  

if both people in the room are MLife Gold (or higher) do each get the OBC or is it per stateroom?

I've been watching the pre-cruise pricing for Internet for our upcoming cruise.  We have elite status and I understand that we get 30% off and have to call CC to get the discount applied to a pre-cruise purchase.  I've been watching the one device unlimited package and prior to today, it has been showing as "10% off" (of the on-board price, I presume) and available for $302.  The CC elite price when calling is $211 (302 - 30%).  Today, the cruise planner cost dropped to $268.80.  I called to get the 30% discount from that and was denied.  CC says Elite cost is still $211 (30% off the 10% off on-board price, not 30% off the planner price).  Is this correct?    

Maybe I should add that we are on the Edge, if the ship's implementation matters.  My only recent, possibly relevant, experience was on RCCL Oasis OTS in 2017 and that service was excellent (at least for the services I used) & much better than my pre-2017 Solstice-class experiences.  I got download speeds of 3 Mbps, which was quite usable.  At the time, RCCL used SES/O3b as their internet provider.  I can't find whether Celebrity is also using the O3b MEO satellites, but the internet service tiers are marketed and priced similarly between RCCL & X (surf vs. stream/unlimited).

Both DW & I each get the Elite 90 min/30% discount.  We haven't been on Celebrity for a while, but were on RCCL a couple years ago (with reciprocal Diamond status) and used the strategy of using the free minutes from one acct first for a day or two, then buying a discounted package on the other acct for the remaining days.

So the question is "surf" or "unlimited".  Does anyone know the technical implementation differences between the two packages?  How do they enforce the surf limitations?  Do they blacklist IP addresses for surf (like Netflix, etc), or ports/protocols (for VoIP)? Do they block VPNs?  I got the impression that the speed was the same for both rather than throttling.  True?  Are there usage caps in either plan?  For the "free" minutes, are those "unlimited" or "surf" class of service. 

Also, the pre-cruise "unlimited" plans show a 10% discount, while the "surf" packages show no pre-cruise discount.

Is there any benefit to purchasing an internet package pre-cruise for those with Elite status?

Upon further investigation, the EXACT SAME THING is true of my Royal Caribbean C&A account.  She has 2 7 day cruises (one with sister, one with me)  and 28 points.  I have 1 7 day cruise (with her) but also 28 points.  

My spouse completed a cruise with her friend on Celebrity.  I didn't go.  We're both currently Elite.  She got her points as expected, but I also received points matching hers.  It doesn't show a completed cruise for me, while it does for her.  I'm not complaining, but confused.  Her's was 15 nights in AQ but she (& I) got 80 points.  I was expecting 75 for her (& none for me).  So I'm confused about that too (the apparent 16th night).  Can someone explain?  Thanks.

13 minutes ago, voljeep said:

how many actual cruise days will you have to reach that level based on cruise credits ?

We aren't doing it based on cruise days.  Elite is from 16th completed cruise credits, with 2 for suite or solo, 3 for suite and solo, 1 for everything else, or 151+ cruise days.  We're achieving Elite status by completed cruise credits.  I only have 68 completed days.  You don't get to accumulate double cruise days for suites or solos.

We did exactly this in May.  3 day suite repositioning from LA to Vancouver, followed by one day solo inside from Vancouver to Seattle (upgraded to a balcony, not that it mattered).  4 quick points and we'll be elite after our next "normal" cruise in December.

On 9/6/2019 at 12:02 PM, chicagopaul said:

 

Simple to do. Start by creating an account with MLife and get an MLife number. It’s free you can do it online. Then call MLife and say you want a reciprocal match with your Captains Club Celebrity Cruises status. They’ll do it over the phone. Then you will have Platinum status with MLife. Login to your MLife account and I believe you should see something about Hyatt listed online and you can match it blind. Y entering your Hyatt number. Don’t do the reverse since the reverse (going through Hyatt to match your Hyatt status) will downgrade your MLife. Then once you get that Hyatt explorist you can take it one step further and look for an American Airlines match if you want American status. They’re doing a 120 day or 90 day gold status match with Hyatt and if you meet a low level spend / mileage requirement you’ll have gold on American for the following year. 

Just completed this, too, matching my Celebrity Elite to mLife Gold (phone) to Hyatt Explorist (online).  Does this expire or do I have to do something to keep it active/renew it?  I couldn't find any mention of this and neglected to ask the mLife CSR.

Thanks for the tip.

We've cruised several times in a full suite on 7-15 day cruises and am familiar with the suite benefits.  I have a suite booked on a 3 night repo cruise.  What suite benefits do we NOT get on a short trip?  Sabatini breakfast? First night free specialty restaurant?  Free laundry?  We're both platinum.

Here's an update with my experience on Diamond Princess...

I bought $1000 USD in OBC.  Went to the casino, linked my card and loaded $500 to the card.  Immediately cashed out $500.  No casino play.  A couple days later, loaded another $500 and immediately cashed out again.  A few days later, I tried to do it a 3rd time and the card had been disabled for loading cash from my on-board account.  I had the same cage cashier both times.  Had DW setup her card and download another $500 and immediately cash out.  No problem and I didn't try again as I had all the cash I needed.  So maybe I should have been more subtle.

I also noted that there was no need to preload OBC from home.  It would have worked the same, I think, just drawing down the on-board credit, still generating cash from a CC that pays more points for travel.

Is it possible to pre-pay & buy On-board Credit and withdraw it in cash (USD) on board?  We have some private tours and the guides want to be paid in cash (either local or USD).  I'd prefer to do this rather than taking US currency to earn points on my credit card & I don't like carrying large amounts of cash.  I assume that a purchased OBC is refundable in the event I don't use it all up.  To withdraw it on-board, can I do this at Guest Services or do I need to use the casino?

+1 for the HooToo Tripmate. I've used it successfully on RCCL Oasis and, I think, on Grand Princess (maybe in 2016). Even then, it was a bit problematic when moving around the ship between access points as the wifi channels changed. Usually needed to be disconnected and reconnected once we settled in a spot. Not at all seemless. I don't know of any cell phone or tablet that would work in this application since it would need two wifi radios. Maybe a laptop with two wifi interfaces (maybe one built-in and one USB) & appropriate software. It requires a bit of networking knowledge to get it working. On land, the cellular radio provides one network connection and the wifi radio provides the network connection for the hotspot clients so it's much more transparent.